Big Island Biodiesel plant opening celebrated last week in Hawaii
By Pacific Biodiesel | July 09, 2012
Big Island Biodiesel opened the first week of July Photo: Pacific Biodiesel
Pacific Biodiesel Technologies has unveiled its newest project and the first biofuel refinery to be built in the state since 2000, Big Island Biodiesel LLC.
It has been 12 years since Pacific Biodiesel conceptualized and began operations at its Sand Island refinery on Oahu, making the event an exciting new chapter in Pacific Biodiesel’s history.
Big Island Biodiesel will utilize recently developed zero-waste, superefficient processing technology and will play a significant role in helping Hawaii reach its energy independence and sustainability goals.
Plant Manager at Big Island Biodiesel, Don Caffee, said, “We are excited about our contribution to Hawaii’s energy needs and the positive impact it will have on our local community.”
The grand opening was not only an important day for Pacific Biodiesel Technologies but it also signified one more step towards lessening Hawaii’s dependence on imported diesel fuel.
The Energy Independence Day celebration began with speeches from U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye and Gov. Neil Abercrombie.
“Let’s not blink this time,” said Inouye, referring to the early development of renewable energy, prompted by the oil crisis in the 1970′s, which died when petroleum prices dropped.
Abercrombie praised the local investment in the project, saying, “This is a commitment to renewable, this is a commitment to alternative, this is a commitment to energy itself.”
The senator and governor were among many influential speakers representing various government divisions such as the USDA, the U.S. EPA, and the U.S. DOE.
“This is a big deal,” DOE representative Jim Spaeth said. “I’m here to tell you that this is a big deal.”
Speakers were followed by a traditional Hawaiian blessing of the refinery by Kahu Kimo Pihana. Pihana has been present at each of Big Island Biodesels’ blessings from the very first land blessing in January 2010 to the groundbreaking event later that year and now at the finale, the grand opening of the Big Island Biodiesel refinery in 2012.
Paradise Helicopters provided aerial tours of the plant and nearby jatropha farm operated by Hilo resident, James Twigg-Smith.
Big Island Biodiesel and Pacific Biodiesel Technologies’ employees, investors, members, friends, and family joined guests at an Energy Independence Day BBQ following the ceremony and blessing. Guests fueled up on an Independence Day spread of fried chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers, and potato salad while being serenaded by Keoki Kahumoku.
All cooking oil used at the barbeque was collected for later biodiesel production at the plant.
Fuel Sales Manager Jenna Long expressed thanks to all those who made the event possible.
“I’d like to give a big mahalo to all of our customers who have supported locally produced biodiesel for so many years,” Long said. “The success of biodiesel in Hawaii is truly driven by those who fill up their cars and trucks day by day and keep their ‘truly green’ dollars working for our state.”
October 7, 2010| Contact: Richard Lewis | (401) 863-3766 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting(401) 863-3766 FREE end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting(401) 863-3766 FREE end_of_the_skype_highlighting | Print
ENERGY Waste not, want notAaron Socha, left, and Jason Sello devised a way to convert waste vegetable oil to biodiesel in a single reaction vessel, using environmentally friendly catalysts.Credit: Mike Cohea/Brown University
Brown University chemists simplify biodiesel conversion
Two chemists at Brown University have streamlined the conversion of waste vegetable oil into biodiesel, eliminating the need for corrosive chemicals to perform the reactions. Writing in the journal Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry, the chemists were able to pull off the waste vegetable oil-to-biodiesel conversion in a single reaction vessel using environmentally friendly catalysts and making the conversion six times faster than current methods. PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — As the United States seeks to lessen its reliance on foreign oil, biodiesel is expected to play a role. According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a branch of the Department of Energy, biodiesel “represents a significant energy resource and could someday supply 3 percent to 5 percent of the distillate fuel market.”
One major obstacle to achieving that goal is figuring how to efficiently convert the abundant stocks of waste vegetable oil (oil used after cooking French fries, for example) into biodiesel fuel. Current techniques take time, are costly and are inefficient. Worse, the conversion requires the toxic chemicals sulfuric acid and either potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide.
That’s where Brown University chemist Jason Sello and postdoctoral researcher Aaron Socha come in. They write in the journal Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry that they were able to convert waste vegetable oil to biodiesel in a single reaction vessel using environmentally friendly catalysts. Their process is also six times faster than current methods for converting waste vegetable oil to biodiesel, so it consumes less energy.
“We wanted to develop an environmentally benign and technically simple way to convert waste vegetable oil into biodiesel,” said Sello, assistant professor of chemistry. “The production of energy at the expense of the environment is untenable and should be avoided at all costs.”
Waste vegetable oil is made up of triacylglycerols, free fatty acids, and water. The conventional way to convert waste vegetable oil into biodiesel requires two separate reactions. The first reaction turns the free fatty acids into biodiesel, but that conversion requires sulfuric acid. The second reaction converts the triacylglycerols into biodiesel, but that conversion requires sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide. Sodium hydroxide/potassium hydroxide and sulfuric acid are not compatible with each other, so the reactions must be carried out in separate vessels. That makes the process less efficient.
To find a better way, Sello and Socha went looking for catalysts that would be cheap, chemically stable and of limited toxicity. They settled on the metals bismuth triflate and scandium triflate, commonly used as catalysts in preparative organic chemistry. In addition, they performed the reactions using a microwave reactor instead of a conventional thermal heater. What they found was the new catalysts converted waste vegetable oil into biodiesel in about 20 minutes in the microwave reactor, whereas current reactions without catalysts using a conventional heater take two hours. While their microwave method needs a higher temperature to pull off the biodiesel conversion — 150 degrees Celsius versus 60 degrees Celsius under current methods — it uses less energy overall because the reaction time is much shorter.
The chemists also were able to perform the conversion in one reaction vessel, since the catalysts can promote both the reaction that converts free fatty acids into biodiesel and the reaction in which triacylgycerols are converted to biodiesel.
The team also reports that the catalysts in the free fatty acid conversion, which is the more challenging of the two reactions, could be recycled up to five times, while maintaining the capacity to promote a 97 percent reaction yield. The fact the catalysts can be recycled lowers their cost and environmental impact, the researchers said.
“While we have not yet proven the viability of our approach on an industrial scale,” Sello said, “we have identified very promising catalysts and reaction conditions that could, in principle, be used for large-scale conversion of waste vegetable oil into biodiesel in an enviornmentally sensitive manner.”
The research was funded by the National Science Foundation through a grant to Sello and an American Competitiveness in Chemistry award to Socha. Brown also supported the work through a R.B. Salomon award to Sello.
In a separate yet related paper, a team led by Brown chemistry professor Paul Williard has created a new technique to chart the progress of a reaction in which virgin oils are converted into biodiesel fuel.
The technique, called DOSY (for diffusion-ordered nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy), observes virgin oil molecules as they shrink in size and move faster in solution during the reaction. The reaction is complete when all of the molecules have been converted into smaller components known as fatty acid esters. These fatty acid esters are used as biodiesel fuel.
The results are published in the journal Energy & Fuels. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation. Contributing authors include Sello, Socha, Brown graduate students Gerald Kagan and Weibin Li, and lab technician Russell Hopson.
Editors: Brown University has a fiber link television studio available for domestic and international live and taped interviews, and maintains an ISDN line for radio interviews. For more information, call (401) 863-2476 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting(401) 863-2476 FREE end_of_the_skype_highlighting .
SOUTH SIOUX CITY – Beef fat would be turned into clean-burning fuel as part of a $100 million venture that moved forward in South Sioux City late last year.
A group of investors are planning to build 60-million-gallon-per-year biodiesel fuel plant in the Roth Industrial Park. The renewable fuel would not be made from soybeans, but from the tallow byproduct of the beef processing done at the adjacent Beef Products Inc. plant.
BPI, the world’s largest supplier of lean boneless beef, and co-founder Eldon Roth are among investors in the project, which would create 30 to 40 new jobs.
In December, the South Sioux City Council voted to issue $25 million in revenue bonds to help fund the Nature’s BioReserves facility. The city would not have no obligation for the bonds, which would be repaid with revenues from the plant.
The city approved the Build America Bond Program just before it expired at the end of 2010. Created as a part of the 2009 federal stimulus bill, the Build America program subsidized municipal bonds, help developers save on interest costs compared to conventional financing.
Construction on the biodiesel plant is expected to start in late summer, and last about 14 months.
Representatives of Nature’s BioReserves were unavailable for comment for this story because the business was in a quiet period related to its investments.
Washakie Renewable Energy Debuts New Multi-Feedstock Technology
The biodiesel industry featured one of its own last week with an open house of the Washakie Renewable Energy plant in Plymouth, Utah.
The plant is owned by two brothers - Jacob and Isaiah Kingston and features a process they call the "green line process."
The 10 million gallon per year biodiesel plant hosted an open house last week to showcase its new technology and nearly 100 elected officials, industry representatives and members of the community took part in the event and plant tour.
The biodiesel will be produced from various feedstocks including yellow and brown grease, animal fats and wastewater pond scum.
The resulting fuel will be sold to local companies and fuel distributors.
Jacob Kingston, who is the CEO, said in the Salt Lake Tribune that they are employing 65 people and anticipate sales of $3 million per year.
Although the plant actually began production back in 2006, the technology unveiled last week is a new, a multi-feedstock technology, that allows the plant to use different feedstocks to produce biodiesel.
When the industry was first gaining momentum, plants were designed to be single-feedstock.
With the costs of these commodity feedstocks rising and falling, the industry realized it needed to diversify to survive and with that diversification, new multi-feedstock technologies are emerging.
The Kingston's also hope to diversify the crops that are grown near their plant.
Today it is mostly alfalfa but they envision in the future these will be supplemented with oil-seed crops.
Alan Weber, an adviser to the National Biodiesel Board noted the Washakie plant is helping the industry meet its goal of producing more than the 800 million gallons of biofuel that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency mandated for this year through the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS).
With demand across America for biodiesel growing, I'm confident we'll see a lot more new biodiesel plants located through the country.
Image by AFP/Getty Images via @daylife Written by John Platt Biofuels made from algae can be produced in a way that make this energy source cost-competitive with crude oil by increasing the amount of energy algae stores as fat, according to early research from VG Energy, an alternative energy and agricultural biotech company. Algae typically store energy as carbohydrates or fat. But a report (pdf) by biofuels expert John Sheehan suggests that techniques developed by the company to target tumors in humans could change that process — and in the process could increase algae oil output during the production of biofuels. The resulting biodiesel and algae-based jet fuels could be produced at a cost of $94 per barrel, well below the current crude oil price of above $100 a barrel, according to the report by Viral Genetics, of which VG Energy is a subsidiary. Sheehan, a researcher with the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota, is an advisor to Viral Genetics. It’s all based on a technique developed by Viral Genetics researcher Dr. Karen Newell-Rogers. According to a report from Energy Boom, Newell-Rogers has been developing molecular techniques “to disrupt tumor metabolism to prevent them from burning fat reserves, making them more susceptible to chemotherapy and radiation.” The same switch could force the algae to store energy as fat, which could then be extracted as algal oil. Biofuel researchers have been seeking a technique to accomplish this switch, known as the “lipid trigger,” since the 1990s. Algae typically do not produce oil under normal conditions, but they do when they are stressed. Algae are highly valued in biofuels research because of their high growth rate. “Whoever manages to break the trade-off between high growth of algae and high lipid content in the algae will be bringing a game changer to the table,” Sheehan told Energy Boom last December. According to a VG Energy press release, the technique increased production of extractable lipid, or fat, by at least 300 percent when applied in the lab. The fat was stored outside the cell walls, making it easier to extract without first killing the algae. The technique also makes as much as 75 percent of the rest of the algae recyclable, further reducing costs. In addition, this technique could also allow greater extraction of Omega-3 fats, also at much lower price than currently marketed processes. Sheehan’s report details several ways that algal oil can be produced. VG Energy will study the techniques to try to put its new discovery into practice. The research is being supported by a $750,000 grant through the Texas Emerging Technology Fund, which was created by the Texas legislature in 2005.es Latest Algal Info Origin Oil Pollution Control?
SG Biofuels Develops Jatropha Hybrid Seed Production TechnologyDate Posted: October 6, 2010
Jatropha tree
San Diego, CA (Oct. 6 /PRNewswire) -- SG Biofuels, a bioenergy crop company developing and producing elite seeds of Jatropha, today announced it has established a proprietary technology for large-scale Jatropha hybrid seed production. Hybrid seeds result in greater yield, uniformity and vigor while significantly reducing handling and deployment costs for plantation developers.
The company made the announcement at JatrophaWorld 2010, an annual gathering of Jatropha producers and developers in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
"The ability to produce hybrid seeds at an industrial scale is game-changing and enables Jatropha to quickly become a major global feedstock," said Kirk Haney, president and chief executive officer of SG Biofuels. "Our proprietary technology allows us to cost-effectively scale large plantation projects, significantly expanding total worldwide acreages of planted Jatropha."
Hybrid seed technology has historically been responsible for exponential increases in agricultural production and profitability. Since the introduction of hybrid corn in the 1940's, along with improved agronomic practices, the average U.S. bushel per acre has increased by more than 400 percent from 30 to approximately 140. With hybrid corn, at least 20 percent more corn is produced on 25 percent fewer acres. Large-scale hybrid seed production is considered superior to other mass propagation techniques because of lower costs and improved plant performance.
"True hybrid seeds provide a far superior planting material resulting in more consistent production and greater profitability for growers," said Eric Mathur, vice president of molecular breeding and agronomics for SG Biofuels. "We can now generate large quantities of elite hybrid seeds optimized to our customers' unique growing conditions worldwide."
The patent pending technology was developed following more than three years of research and development of the world's largest and most diverse library of Jatropha genetic material, including more than 6,000 unique genotypes. Earlier this year SG Biofuels introduced JMax 100, its first elite cultivar optimized for Guatemala with projected yields 100 percent greater than existing commercial varieties, resulting in a 300 percent increase in profits.
Jatropha curcas is a non-edible shrub that is native to Central America. Its seeds contain high amounts of oil that is used as a high quality energy feedstock, and a variety of bio-based materials. It can be effectively grown on marginal lands that are considered undesirable for food crops.Harvesting Jatropha
MAPUTO (Reuters) - UK-based Sun Biofuels plans to produce 2 million liters of fuel from its jatropha plantations in Mozambique's central Manica province by 2018, an official said on Monday.
Business Development Director Harry Stourton said the company will increase its cultivation area of jatropha plants to 10,000 hectares from the 2,500 hectares it has so far.
"Our forecast is to produce 20,000 tonnes of crushed oil from jatropha by 2018 when we are at full capacity, to be cultivated on 10,000 hectares of land in Manica investing some $15 million in the process," he told Reuters.
"This will yield roughly 2 million litres of fuel per year."
Jatropha has been widely heralded as a wonder plant whose cultivation on non-arable land in Africa, Asia and Latin America would provide biodiesel and jobs in poor countries without using farmland needed to feed growing numbers of local people.
Stourton said the fuel will be used in Mozambique, and potentially for exports to South Africa and Europe.
Verenium Launches Purefine PLC Enzyme For Use in Biodiesel Production
Date Posted: December 7, 2011
San Diego—Verenium Corporation (Nasdaq: VRNM), a leading industrial biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of high-performance enzymes, announced Dec. 7 that sales of its Purifine® phospholipase C (PLC) enzyme product will now also be targeted for use in pretreatment of oil for biodiesel production.
Verenium's Purifine® PLC product is a groundbreaking enzyme designed to improve yields and overall economics of edible oil and biodiesel production.
"Since the initial launch of our Purifine® PLC enzymatic degumming process, we have seen rapid adoption and success within the edible oil market, and are pleased to now offer an enzymatic degumming solution for the production of biodiesel," said James Levine, President and Chief Executive Officer at Verenium.
"When compared to traditional degumming processes, our Purifine® PLC enzyme enables a high yield of oil while at the same time efficiently removing phospholipid impurities.
"Purifine® PLC can also be applied to replace chemical or crude refining, making for a much 'greener' process."
Verenium began marketing and selling Purifine® PLC in 2008 for processing of edible oils and estimates the addressable global market for Purifine® PLC in production of edible oils and biodiesel to be approximately $350 million annually.
The Company expects its first customer applying the enzyme for biodiesel production, engineered and implemented by Alfa Laval, to be fully operational in the first half of 2012.
Hawaii Biodiesel
Big Island Biodiesel plant opening celebrated last week in Hawaii
By Pacific Biodiesel | July 09, 2012
Photo: Pacific Biodiesel
Pacific Biodiesel Technologies has unveiled its newest project and the first biofuel refinery to be built in the state since 2000, Big Island Biodiesel LLC.
It has been 12 years since Pacific Biodiesel conceptualized and began operations at its Sand Island refinery on Oahu, making the event an exciting new chapter in Pacific Biodiesel’s history.
Big Island Biodiesel will utilize recently developed zero-waste, superefficient processing technology and will play a significant role in helping Hawaii reach its energy independence and sustainability goals.
Plant Manager at Big Island Biodiesel, Don Caffee, said, “We are excited about our contribution to Hawaii’s energy needs and the positive impact it will have on our local community.”
The grand opening was not only an important day for Pacific Biodiesel Technologies but it also signified one more step towards lessening Hawaii’s dependence on imported diesel fuel.
The Energy Independence Day celebration began with speeches from U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye and Gov. Neil Abercrombie.
“Let’s not blink this time,” said Inouye, referring to the early development of renewable energy, prompted by the oil crisis in the 1970′s, which died when petroleum prices dropped.
Abercrombie praised the local investment in the project, saying, “This is a commitment to renewable, this is a commitment to alternative, this is a commitment to energy itself.”
The senator and governor were among many influential speakers representing various government divisions such as the USDA, the U.S. EPA, and the U.S. DOE.
“This is a big deal,” DOE representative Jim Spaeth said. “I’m here to tell you that this is a big deal.”
Speakers were followed by a traditional Hawaiian blessing of the refinery by Kahu Kimo Pihana. Pihana has been present at each of Big Island Biodesels’ blessings from the very first land blessing in January 2010 to the groundbreaking event later that year and now at the finale, the grand opening of the Big Island Biodiesel refinery in 2012.
Paradise Helicopters provided aerial tours of the plant and nearby jatropha farm operated by Hilo resident, James Twigg-Smith.
Big Island Biodiesel and Pacific Biodiesel Technologies’ employees, investors, members, friends, and family joined guests at an Energy Independence Day BBQ following the ceremony and blessing. Guests fueled up on an Independence Day spread of fried chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers, and potato salad while being serenaded by Keoki Kahumoku.
All cooking oil used at the barbeque was collected for later biodiesel production at the plant.
Fuel Sales Manager Jenna Long expressed thanks to all those who made the event possible.
“I’d like to give a big mahalo to all of our customers who have supported locally produced biodiesel for so many years,” Long said. “The success of biodiesel in Hawaii is truly driven by those who fill up their cars and trucks day by day and keep their ‘truly green’ dollars working for our state.”
Hawaii Energy Independent
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Pacific Biodiesel
http://www.biofuelsjournal.com/index.html
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On the other end....
October 7, 2010 | Contact: Richard Lewis | (401) 863-3766 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting
ENERGY
Brown University chemists simplify biodiesel conversion
Two chemists at Brown University have streamlined the conversion of waste vegetable oil into biodiesel, eliminating the need for corrosive chemicals to perform the reactions. Writing in the journal Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry, the chemists were able to pull off the waste vegetable oil-to-biodiesel conversion in a single reaction vessel using environmentally friendly catalysts and making the conversion six times faster than current methods.PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — As the United States seeks to lessen its reliance on foreign oil, biodiesel is expected to play a role. According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a branch of the Department of Energy, biodiesel “represents a significant energy resource and could someday supply 3 percent to 5 percent of the distillate fuel market.”
One major obstacle to achieving that goal is figuring how to efficiently convert the abundant stocks of waste vegetable oil (oil used after cooking French fries, for example) into biodiesel fuel. Current techniques take time, are costly and are inefficient. Worse, the conversion requires the toxic chemicals sulfuric acid and either potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide.
That’s where Brown University chemist Jason Sello and postdoctoral researcher Aaron Socha come in. They write in the journal Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry that they were able to convert waste vegetable oil to biodiesel in a single reaction vessel using environmentally friendly catalysts. Their process is also six times faster than current methods for converting waste vegetable oil to biodiesel, so it consumes less energy.
“We wanted to develop an environmentally benign and technically simple way to convert waste vegetable oil into biodiesel,” said Sello, assistant professor of chemistry. “The production of energy at the expense of the environment is untenable and should be avoided at all costs.”
Waste vegetable oil is made up of triacylglycerols, free fatty acids, and water. The conventional way to convert waste vegetable oil into biodiesel requires two separate reactions. The first reaction turns the free fatty acids into biodiesel, but that conversion requires sulfuric acid. The second reaction converts the triacylglycerols into biodiesel, but that conversion requires sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide. Sodium hydroxide/potassium hydroxide and sulfuric acid are not compatible with each other, so the reactions must be carried out in separate vessels. That makes the process less efficient.
To find a better way, Sello and Socha went looking for catalysts that would be cheap, chemically stable and of limited toxicity. They settled on the metals bismuth triflate and scandium triflate, commonly used as catalysts in preparative organic chemistry. In addition, they performed the reactions using a microwave reactor instead of a conventional thermal heater. What they found was the new catalysts converted waste vegetable oil into biodiesel in about 20 minutes in the microwave reactor, whereas current reactions without catalysts using a conventional heater take two hours. While their microwave method needs a higher temperature to pull off the biodiesel conversion — 150 degrees Celsius versus 60 degrees Celsius under current methods — it uses less energy overall because the reaction time is much shorter.
The chemists also were able to perform the conversion in one reaction vessel, since the catalysts can promote both the reaction that converts free fatty acids into biodiesel and the reaction in which triacylgycerols are converted to biodiesel.
The team also reports that the catalysts in the free fatty acid conversion, which is the more challenging of the two reactions, could be recycled up to five times, while maintaining the capacity to promote a 97 percent reaction yield. The fact the catalysts can be recycled lowers their cost and environmental impact, the researchers said.
“While we have not yet proven the viability of our approach on an industrial scale,” Sello said, “we have identified very promising catalysts and reaction conditions that could, in principle, be used for large-scale conversion of waste vegetable oil into biodiesel in an enviornmentally sensitive manner.”
The research was funded by the National Science Foundation through a grant to Sello and an American Competitiveness in Chemistry award to Socha. Brown also supported the work through a R.B. Salomon award to Sello.
In a separate yet related paper, a team led by Brown chemistry professor Paul Williard has created a new technique to chart the progress of a reaction in which virgin oils are converted into biodiesel fuel.
The technique, called DOSY (for diffusion-ordered nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy), observes virgin oil molecules as they shrink in size and move faster in solution during the reaction. The reaction is complete when all of the molecules have been converted into smaller components known as fatty acid esters. These fatty acid esters are used as biodiesel fuel.
The results are published in the journal Energy & Fuels. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation. Contributing authors include Sello, Socha, Brown graduate students Gerald Kagan and Weibin Li, and lab technician Russell Hopson.
Editors: Brown University has a fiber link television studio available for domestic and international live and taped interviews, and maintains an ISDN line for radio interviews. For more information, call (401) 863-2476 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting
UCONN Biodiesel Reactor
South Sioux plant to churn out diesel fuel
South Sioux plant to churn out diesel fuel[[ http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/search/?l=50&sd=desc&s=start_time&f=html&byline=ByDaveDreeszenddreeszen@siouxcityjournal.com|By Dave Dreeszen ddreeszen@siouxcityjournal.com ]]Sioux City Journal | Posted: Sunday, March 20, 2011 12:00 am | No Comments PostedSOUTH SIOUX CITY – Beef fat would be turned into clean-burning fuel as part of a $100 million venture that moved forward in South Sioux City late last year.
A group of investors are planning to build 60-million-gallon-per-year biodiesel fuel plant in the Roth Industrial Park. The renewable fuel would not be made from soybeans, but from the tallow byproduct of the beef processing done at the adjacent Beef Products Inc. plant.
BPI, the world’s largest supplier of lean boneless beef, and co-founder Eldon Roth are among investors in the project, which would create 30 to 40 new jobs.
In December, the South Sioux City Council voted to issue $25 million in revenue bonds to help fund the Nature’s BioReserves facility. The city would not have no obligation for the bonds, which would be repaid with revenues from the plant.
The city approved the Build America Bond Program just before it expired at the end of 2010. Created as a part of the 2009 federal stimulus bill, the Build America program subsidized municipal bonds, help developers save on interest costs compared to conventional financing.
Construction on the biodiesel plant is expected to start in late summer, and last about 14 months.
Representatives of Nature’s BioReserves were unavailable for comment for this story because the business was in a quiet period related to its investments.
What the Research is Saying?
Washakie Renewable Energy Debuts New Multi-Feedstock Technology
The biodiesel industry featured one of its own last week with an open house of the Washakie Renewable Energy plant in Plymouth, Utah.
The plant is owned by two brothers - Jacob and Isaiah Kingston and features a process they call the "green line process."
The 10 million gallon per year biodiesel plant hosted an open house last week to showcase its new technology and nearly 100 elected officials, industry representatives and members of the community took part in the event and plant tour.
The biodiesel will be produced from various feedstocks including yellow and brown grease, animal fats and wastewater pond scum.
The resulting fuel will be sold to local companies and fuel distributors.
Jacob Kingston, who is the CEO, said in the Salt Lake Tribune that they are employing 65 people and anticipate sales of $3 million per year.
Although the plant actually began production back in 2006, the technology unveiled last week is a new, a multi-feedstock technology, that allows the plant to use different feedstocks to produce biodiesel.
When the industry was first gaining momentum, plants were designed to be single-feedstock.
With the costs of these commodity feedstocks rising and falling, the industry realized it needed to diversify to survive and with that diversification, new multi-feedstock technologies are emerging.
The Kingston's also hope to diversify the crops that are grown near their plant.
Today it is mostly alfalfa but they envision in the future these will be supplemented with oil-seed crops.
Alan Weber, an adviser to the National Biodiesel Board noted the Washakie plant is helping the industry meet its goal of producing more than the 800 million gallons of biofuel that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency mandated for this year through the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS).
With demand across America for biodiesel growing, I'm confident we'll see a lot more new biodiesel plants located through the country.
For more information:
Washakie Renewable Energy— 435-866-2292 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting
http://www.algalbiomass.org/
ALGAL BIODIESEL
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/solazyme-bunge-renewable-oils-joint-025200749.html
http://making-biodiesel-books.com/3345/is-2013-the-make-or-break-year-for-algae-biofuels/
Biofuel From Algae Could Compete With Oil, Report Says-Forbes
Mar. 16 2011 - 4:56 pm | 2,244 views | 0 recommendations | 1 //comment//Posted by **Mother Nature Network**
Written by John Platt
Biofuels made from algae can be produced in a way that make this energy source cost-competitive with crude oil by increasing the amount of energy algae stores as fat, according to early research from VG Energy, an alternative energy and agricultural biotech company.
Algae typically store energy as carbohydrates or fat. But a report (pdf) by biofuels expert John Sheehan suggests that techniques developed by the company to target tumors in humans could change that process — and in the process could increase algae oil output during the production of biofuels.
The resulting biodiesel and algae-based jet fuels could be produced at a cost of $94 per barrel, well below the current crude oil price of above $100 a barrel, according to the report by Viral Genetics, of which VG Energy is a subsidiary. Sheehan, a researcher with the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota, is an advisor to Viral Genetics.
It’s all based on a technique developed by Viral Genetics researcher Dr. Karen Newell-Rogers. According to a report from Energy Boom, Newell-Rogers has been developing molecular techniques “to disrupt tumor metabolism to prevent them from burning fat reserves, making them more susceptible to chemotherapy and radiation.” The same switch could force the algae to store energy as fat, which could then be extracted as algal oil.
Biofuel researchers have been seeking a technique to accomplish this switch, known as the “lipid trigger,” since the 1990s. Algae typically do not produce oil under normal conditions, but they do when they are stressed.
Algae are highly valued in biofuels research because of their high growth rate. “Whoever manages to break the trade-off between high growth of algae and high lipid content in the algae will be bringing a game changer to the table,” Sheehan told Energy Boom last December.
According to a VG Energy press release, the technique increased production of extractable lipid, or fat, by at least 300 percent when applied in the lab. The fat was stored outside the cell walls, making it easier to extract without first killing the algae. The technique also makes as much as 75 percent of the rest of the algae recyclable, further reducing costs.
In addition, this technique could also allow greater extraction of Omega-3 fats, also at much lower price than currently marketed processes.
Sheehan’s report details several ways that algal oil can be produced. VG Energy will study the techniques to try to put its new discovery into practice. The research is being supported by a $750,000 grant through the Texas Emerging Technology Fund, which was created by the Texas legislature in 2005.es
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Biodiesel plant map of US
List of US plants
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SG Biofuels Develops Jatropha Hybrid Seed Production TechnologyDate Posted: October 6, 2010
San Diego, CA (Oct. 6 /PRNewswire) -- SG Biofuels, a bioenergy crop company developing and producing elite seeds of Jatropha, today announced it has established a proprietary technology for large-scale Jatropha hybrid seed production. Hybrid seeds result in greater yield, uniformity and vigor while significantly reducing handling and deployment costs for plantation developers.
The company made the announcement at JatrophaWorld 2010, an annual gathering of Jatropha producers and developers in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
"The ability to produce hybrid seeds at an industrial scale is game-changing and enables Jatropha to quickly become a major global feedstock," said Kirk Haney, president and chief executive officer of SG Biofuels. "Our proprietary technology allows us to cost-effectively scale large plantation projects, significantly expanding total worldwide acreages of planted Jatropha."
Hybrid seed technology has historically been responsible for exponential increases in agricultural production and profitability. Since the introduction of hybrid corn in the 1940's, along with improved agronomic practices, the average U.S. bushel per acre has increased by more than 400 percent from 30 to approximately 140. With hybrid corn, at least 20 percent more corn is produced on 25 percent fewer acres. Large-scale hybrid seed production is considered superior to other mass propagation techniques because of lower costs and improved plant performance.
"True hybrid seeds provide a far superior planting material resulting in more consistent production and greater profitability for growers," said Eric Mathur, vice president of molecular breeding and agronomics for SG Biofuels. "We can now generate large quantities of elite hybrid seeds optimized to our customers' unique growing conditions worldwide."
The patent pending technology was developed following more than three years of research and development of the world's largest and most diverse library of Jatropha genetic material, including more than 6,000 unique genotypes. Earlier this year SG Biofuels introduced JMax 100, its first elite cultivar optimized for Guatemala with projected yields 100 percent greater than existing commercial varieties, resulting in a 300 percent increase in profits.
Jatropha curcas is a non-edible shrub that is native to Central America. Its seeds contain high amounts of oil that is used as a high quality energy feedstock, and a variety of bio-based materials. It can be effectively grown on marginal lands that are considered undesirable for food crops.Harvesting Jatropha
Oil Press Operation
Commercial Scale Oil Press
Jatropha By Products
Sun Biofuels eyes 2 mln litres of oil in Mozambique
Mon Mar 14, 2011 4:43pm GMTReuters
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MAPUTO (Reuters) - UK-based Sun Biofuels plans to produce 2 million liters of fuel from its jatropha plantations in Mozambique's central Manica province by 2018, an official said on Monday.
Business Development Director Harry Stourton said the company will increase its cultivation area of jatropha plants to 10,000 hectares from the 2,500 hectares it has so far.
"Our forecast is to produce 20,000 tonnes of crushed oil from jatropha by 2018 when we are at full capacity, to be cultivated on 10,000 hectares of land in Manica investing some $15 million in the process," he told Reuters.
"This will yield roughly 2 million litres of fuel per year."
Jatropha has been widely heralded as a wonder plant whose cultivation on non-arable land in Africa, Asia and Latin America would provide biodiesel and jobs in poor countries without using farmland needed to feed growing numbers of local people.
Stourton said the fuel will be used in Mozambique, and potentially for exports to South Africa and Europe.
Jatropha Scam
Verenium Launches Purefine PLC Enzyme For Use in Biodiesel Production
Date Posted: December 7, 2011San Diego—Verenium Corporation (Nasdaq: VRNM), a leading industrial biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of high-performance enzymes, announced Dec. 7 that sales of its Purifine® phospholipase C (PLC) enzyme product will now also be targeted for use in pretreatment of oil for biodiesel production.
Verenium's Purifine® PLC product is a groundbreaking enzyme designed to improve yields and overall economics of edible oil and biodiesel production.
"Since the initial launch of our Purifine® PLC enzymatic degumming process, we have seen rapid adoption and success within the edible oil market, and are pleased to now offer an enzymatic degumming solution for the production of biodiesel," said James Levine, President and Chief Executive Officer at Verenium.
"When compared to traditional degumming processes, our Purifine® PLC enzyme enables a high yield of oil while at the same time efficiently removing phospholipid impurities.
"Purifine® PLC can also be applied to replace chemical or crude refining, making for a much 'greener' process."
Verenium began marketing and selling Purifine® PLC in 2008 for processing of edible oils and estimates the addressable global market for Purifine® PLC in production of edible oils and biodiesel to be approximately $350 million annually.
The Company expects its first customer applying the enzyme for biodiesel production, engineered and implemented by Alfa Laval, to be fully operational in the first half of 2012.
Nest Oil Rifinery Rotterdam
Fragrence as a Feedstock?
CO2 - methanol - biodiesel
http://www.gizmag.com/photochemical-photosynthesis-uta-co2-methanol/26766/